Ponda vendors evicted

FROM NT NETWORK
Posted on 2009-06-26
PONDA: With strong police protection, the Ponda Municipality’s chief officer, Mr Jayant Tari, who is also the deputy collector of Ponda, evicted the vegetable and flower vendors on Thursday evening from the Budhwarpeth and shifted their goods in the hawkers zone, even though these vendors claimed that there is no approach road to the newly constructed hawkers zone and is not fit to be occupied.
Later, the PMC workers demolished their temporary sheds even as there was a strong opposition from the vendors. The police had a tough time while controlling the vendors, initially.
The president of the Budwarpeth Market Vendors Association, Mr Shanker Naik even tried to commit suicide by tying a rope to the market roof after observing the authorities shifting the goods forcibly and not ready to listen to the vendors’ grievances.
According to Mr Naik, there are nearly 220 vendors, who were asked to shift from the Budwarpeth.
“We had assured the chief officer that we will shift in the new hawker zone after Ganesh Chhaturthi so that the authorities would also have time to construct the approach road to it. But they paid no heed to us. I don’t understand why there was a hurry to shift us amidst the heavy rains today,’’ Mr Naik asked adding the shifting of the vendors was necessary to take up the construction for the new market.
Speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’, Mr Tari explained that the hawkers zone was ready in March 2009 and that they were answerable to the delays in occupying it.
“Therefore we took the decision to shift them. If they all had willingly gone to the hawkers’ zone, we would not have attempted to forcefully shift them,’’ he added.
Mr Tari, however, said that the PMC did not touch the 93 vendors who have approached the High Court with their pleas, but, all others will be shifted by
Friday afternoon.
To a question as to whether there is an approach road to the hawkers’ zone to unload the vegetables, Mr Tari said “once these vendors were shifted, the place will be used for road and it will be constructed within next 15 days.